Corner brace for fences



July 20, 1948. J. VERNER comma RAcE Fon FENcEs Filed Oct. 15. 1945 1N VEN TOR. meer Vennen Patented July 20, 1948 f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application October 15, 1945, Serial No. 622,274

3 Claim.. (Cl. Z50-35) This invention relates to a fence brace and is designed primarily for use at a corner of a fence for the purpose of preventing the end post from sagging under the pull exerted by the stretched wires or fencing joined to the post. I

Heretofore. various means have been employed for bracing corner posts, but none of them have been very eective because where, for example, diagonal thrust receiving braces have been used, they frequently have been pulled out l of position and, aside from the fact that bracing guys are objectionable because it is necessary to extend them outside of the enclosure, they are likewise frequently inefficient because they usually pull ultimately from their anchors. An object of the present invention is to provide a brace to be setup between the corner post and one of the next adjoining posts so that when the brace is properly assembled therewith, a

rigid parallelogram is produced which serves to resist all of the strains to which the corner post might be subjected by the pulling action of the fencing.

A further object is to' provide a brace which is of simple construction, can be installed readily.

and is strong and durable.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawing,

Figure 1 is a top plan view showing a corner post and a next adjoining post coupled by means i0- of thebrace constituting the present invention. Figure 2 is an elevation of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section on line 2--2 Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a vertical section through one of the i5 upper connecting brackets.

Figure 5 is a vertical section through one ofr the lower connecting brackets.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, I and 2 designate the aligned membersv 50 of a top rail, one of these members'having a sleeve 2 flxedly joined thereto and in which the other member 2 telescopes. This member 2 and the sleeve 2 can be held flxedly against movement by a bolt 4 extending through any one of a series of openings l in the sleeve and also extending through the member 2. Fixedly secured to the outer ends of the two members I and 2 are ears 0 forming forks 1 and each of these forks straddles a sleeve 8 carried by the upper end of an attaching plate 9. A transverse bolt Il serves to hold each fork 1 to the ,sleeve l straddled thereby.

Welded or otherwise flxedly joined to each of the attaching plates 2 is an offset tongue II formed at the upper end of tubular upper braces I2 and I3, and the two braces I2 and I2 converge downwardly from the attaching plates l.

Additional attaching plates Il are provided and have offset tongues IB welded or otherwise ilxedly joined thereto,V these tongues being integral with upwardly converging lower tubular braces Il and Il.

Secured to the top rail by means of a U-bolt I8 or the like is a hanger I9 having a plurality of openings 20 in the lower portion thereof any one of which is adapted to receive al bolt 2I. This bolt is extended through opposed similar disks 22 and 23. Disk 22 is provided with diametrically opposed stems 24 and 2l having ears 28 which lap and are welded or otherwise Joined to disk 22 while guide lugs 21 are also extended from these stems 24 and 25 and serve to lap disk v21 so as to hold the marginal portions of the ends thereof can be securely fastened to the upper portions of a corner post C and the adjacent fence post F, respectively. Thus the two braces I2 and I3 will be extended downwardly toward each other between these posts. Stems 2l and 28 on the respective disks22 and 22 are inserted into the lower ends of the respective braces I2 and I3 and said disks are then forced upwardly relative to the braces and. to the top rail until said stems 2l and 2t are tightly seated in the braces I2 and I3. The disks are then fastened to hanger I9 by bolt 2l so as to be supported in .the position to which they have been forced.

Thereafter the upper ends of the braces I8 and I1 are forced into the downwardly diverging stems 28 and 25 while, at the same time, the attaching plates Il are forced upwardly along the adjacent posts C and F. After the parts have all been forced together tightly so as to be free 3, from relative movement, the plates I4 are secured to the respective posts C and F so that a strong sag-resisting cross brace thus is provided between the corner .post C and the adjacent fence post F. and danger of the post C sagging under the weight or pull exerted by wires W orl the like oi' the fencing will be resisted effectively.

Obviously. at each corner two of these sectional braces will be set up, one between the corner post and one adjoining fence post, and the other between the corner post and the other adjoining fence post located at the corner portion of the fence. A portion of this second brace has been shown in Figure 1 at 2', 1' and 8.

B'y providing disks which are relatively rotatable, the connections are self adjustable to variations in angles between the converging brace members.

What is claimed is:

1. A corner brace for fences including a longitudinallyadjustable top rail, a pair of downwardly converging upper braces, means for securing the ends of the top rail and the upper ends of the a longitudinally adjustable top rall, a pair oiv downwardly converging upper braces, means for securing the upper ends of said braces and the ends of the top rail to the upper portions of the respective posts, a pair of upwardly converging verging tubular braces, means for securing the lower braces. Vmeans for securing the lower ends posts, a pair oi' connected relatively rotatable disks interposed between the converging ends of the braces, oppositely extending means on'each of the disks for engagement with one brace of each pair, a hanger suspended from the top rail, and means for adjustably connecting the hanger to the disks.

3. In a fence brace he combination with spaced posts., oi telescopicaily connected rail members, means for holding the members against relative movement; an upper pair of downwardly conupper ends of said braces and the respective ends of the top rail to the upper' portions oi' the respective posts, a lower pair of upwardly converging tubular braces, means for connecting the lower ends thereof to the lower portions of the respective posts, a hanger suspended from the top rail, separate disks adjustably supported by the hanger and mounted for relative rotation, opposed stems carried by one of the disks and seated in oppositely disposed braces of the respective pairs, opposed stems carried by the other disk and seated in the remaining braces of said pairs and means carried by each disk for lapping engagement with the opposed disk.

JAMES VERNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 241,811 Ludlow May 24, 1881 689,404 Maurer Dec. 24, 1901 1,114,479 Iven Oct. 20, 1914 McC'lees Oct. 30, 1917 

